Hackworth says error doesn't compare to Boorda suicide case

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- David Hackworth, the retired army colonel
turned journalist who questioned medals worn by the Navy's
top admiral -- who later killed himself -- acknowledges he
wrongly claimed credit for two of his own military honors.

The awards, which had been listed on Hackworth's personal
Internet page, have now been removed.

Hackworth, once a columnist for Newsweek magazine, has
described himself as America's most decorated living
veteran. He was scheduled to interview Adm. Jeremy Boorda,
chief of naval operations, on the day Boorda committed
suicide one year ago.

Boorda, 56, committed suicide less than two hours after he
learned that reporters would be questioning him about two
pins on ribbon decorations that he had worn.

He left notes lamenting the coming disclosure that he had
improperly worn the two bronze "V" pins, which normally are
awarded for valor in combat.

From his home in Montana, Hackworth told CNN by telephone
Thursday that he recently found out that he was not entitled
to a Ranger tab, an insignia worn on the shoulder of a
uniform.

Normally, it indicates that the wearer has completed one of
the Army's toughest training courses, a rigorous entry to
one of the service's most elite groups. Hackworth said he
thought he earned the Ranger insignia during his service in
the Korean War.

He also told CNN he found that the Army had given him two
Distinguished Flying Cross medals, when he had only earned
one.

In both cases, Hackworth says the mistakes were made by the
Army, not him. Before he died, Boorda said he thought he had
earned the medals in question during service in the Vietnam
War.

'(Adm. Boorda) was wearing valor awards he wasn't entitled to
wear. ... I was wearing tabs I was entitled to wear
according to the Army's regulations at the time.'

"The minute I found that the qualification didn't pertain to
me, I zapped it," Hackworth said, referring to the entry on
his Internet page. He contends that there was no comparison
of his situation with Boorda's.

In a column written shortly after Boorda's death, Hackworth
said: "It is simply unthinkable an experienced officer would
wear decorations he is not entitled to, awards that others
bled for. There is no greater disgrace," he wrote.